Simon Jordan Says West Ham Had No Crisis to Justify Sacking Nuno

• Simon Jordan says being six points off top spot 13 games into a season “doesn’t feel like a crisis that would dictate the necessity to fire a manager”.
• West Ham sacked Nuno Espirito Santo on Tuesday after two successive home defeats and are expected to appoint Scott Parker, per BBC Sport.
• Parker has taken Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley up from the Championship, and Jordan says he has not kept a team in the Premier League.

West Ham Chose Speed Over Patience, and the Pundits Are Split

Simon Jordan does not think West Ham had a strong enough case to sack Nuno Espirito Santo. The White & Jordan co-host said “to be six points off top spot 13 games into a season doesn’t feel like a crisis that would dictate the necessity to fire a manager, but that’s what they’ve done.” West Ham dismissed Nuno on Tuesday, and Scott Parker, a three-time Hammer of the Year as a player, is expected to take over. Jordan was open about one limit on his view. “I haven’t watched West Ham enough this season to know whether they’re playing good football or not,” he said. His argument is about the table, and the table says eighth.

Two home defeats ended Nuno’s reign

West Ham lost 3-2 at home to Southampton, then 3-1 to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. The two results dropped them from second place to eighth, six points behind leaders Middlesbrough and four off second-placed Swansea. They have won two of their last six league games. They were widely seen as favourites for automatic promotion after relegation from the Premier League.

The board said it had carried out a thorough review of the start to the season and decided a change was needed. Assistant head coach Rui Pedro Silva and goalkeeper coach Rui Barbosa have also left. Mark Noble, Steve Potts and Gerard Prenderville will take charge of Wednesday night’s trip to Cardiff City.

Jordan pointed to Ipswich Town, who went up last term as runners-up behind Coventry City. After 13 matches they had won five times. “They’re six points off top spot which is not a catastrophe,” Jordan said of West Ham. He added that Parker “will have a regard for the club, the club will have a regard for him.”

Parker Gets Teams Up but Has Not Kept Them There

Parker, 46, has led Fulham, Bournemouth and Burnley to promotion as a manager. He has been out of work following Burnley’s relegation. Burnley sacked Nicky Hayen after 14 games last month. West Ham are in advanced talks with him and he could be confirmed before the Cardiff game.

Jordan sees the appointment as a trade. “Scott Parker has proven to be someone that’s capable of getting teams out of the Championship,” he said. “He’s also proven to be someone that can’t keep teams in the Premier League.” A club that needs to come back up also needs to stay up.

Parker knows the dressing room he is about to enter. He made 129 appearances in four years at West Ham and won the club’s player of the year award three times. He was also the Football Writers’ Association player of the year in 2011. As a manager he has faced his old club four times, losing three and drawing one.

The Former Players Back Him, and Redknapp Warns of the Squad

Rob Green, the former West Ham goalkeeper, said that “Scott’s shown a proven record of getting promoted.” Green said detractors call Parker’s style unimaginative, but that the job comes first. “You get in the Premier League, you stay in the Premier League, then you worry about the style of football,” Green said. “It makes perfect sense to me.”

John Moncur, another former Hammer, went further back. He said the club were too hasty in letting David Moyes go. “I don’t think we would have been in this position if Moyes had stayed,” Moncur said. He still backs Parker, and he agrees with Green that results come first. “It’s no good playing lovely football if you’re not winning matches,” he said.

Harry Redknapp, who signed Parker for Tottenham Hotspur from West Ham in 2011, called him “a great fit for West Ham”. He was less kind about the squad, though he left England winger Jarrod Bowen out of it. “I think this would probably be the worst group of players I’ve seen at West Ham in that time,” Redknapp said.

A Club That Cannot Afford Another Miss

Parker would be West Ham’s fourth permanent manager after Moyes left London Stadium in 2024. Julen Lopetegui lasted six months and Graham Potter eight. The club stayed with Nuno after relegation, and his side have conceded the opening goal in four of their last six league games, picking up two points from them.

The money explains the urgency. West Ham posted losses of more than £104m, and relegation carries an estimated £200m loss in revenue. The club sold Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, El Hadji Malick Diouf, James Ward-Prowse and Freddie Potts for about £150m. Some of that went on Arne Engels, a Championship record £22m signing from Celtic, who has three assists and no goals in 12 games. They kept Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Cardiff comes first, with Noble, Potts and Prenderville in the dugout on Wednesday night. After that Parker’s first match as manager could be away at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon. Jordan’s case is that six points off top did not call for a sacking. Parker now has to show West Ham were right to move.